


A Bittersweet Homecoming

by TtotheCofA



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: and backstory references to the plotline of a roleplay blog, non-canon long-lost siblings of canon characters, story contains ghost lizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TtotheCofA/pseuds/TtotheCofA
Summary: Gawain had expected his family to move on after his death...but not quite so literally.





	A Bittersweet Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody on A03 knows who Gawain is but I still like this piece and want it hosted somewhere outside of Tumblr in case it finally collapses.
> 
> Enjoy!

When he’d finally gotten back to town, he’d gone straight home.

But the ‘SOLD’ sign hammered into the front yard had caught him off guard. He knew he’d been gone for a long time, but…his parents had never talked about moving. This had to be some kind of mistake! Gawain phased through the locked front gate as he’d learned to do with the trees of the forest, and ran up the familiar front walk to the door.

He’d run right through the front door in his haste, and the sight of a dark, empty mudroom had felt so strikingly unfamiliar that, for a moment, the ghost wondered if he’d gotten the address wrong.

“Mom?” Gawain called out, running through the mudroom to the open kitchen beyond. “Dad?” This, too, was empty….the fridge and the microwave had been removed, and every cupboard - every drawer, every closet - he threw open was bare. The heart that now floated just above his chest began to slowly pulse an anxious yellow-grey, and Gawain fled the kitchen for the hallway.

“Hey!” The ghost pulled himself up the stairs, cheating with his lack of gravity to simply pull himself up the banister as if climbing a ladder, instead of actually using the steps. Maybe his parents were just…redecorating? Yeah! And everyone was just…asleep…upstairs…

“Hey, I’m home!” Gawain scrambled up over the second floor railing, and hurried to the first room - his parents room. The glow of his heart turned ashen when he threw open the door, only to find it just as stripped and bare as the kitchen downstairs. Frantic, Gawain ran across the hall to his brother’s room, but just like before, there were no signs left that anyone had lived there.

“Nonono…” The ghost backed up, combing a hand through his hair in a weak attempt to calm down, and then looked to the end of the hall. The last door to check was his room, but Gawain approached it slowly. He laid his hand on the doorknob, but then let go, and pressed his hand flat against the wood. With a deep breath he didn’t need, the ghost phased through the door into his old bedroom, and felt his heart break with a sharp ‘crack’.

The only thing left of his old bedroom was the mural of stars painted on the ceiling. His hammock was gone. All of his NASA posters and his signed headshot of Neil Armstrong were gone, and the wall-length tank he’d painstakingly customized for Griflet was empty - even the jungle vines he’d painted on the background had been covered up by a bland white.

Gawain slowly moved into the room, and sank down to the floor. His family had moved…he’d been gone too long and they’d given up and moved away before he could find his way back, and apologize. The heart on his chest creaked, and the ghost leaned over his knees with a ragged sob.

He cried for what felt like a very long time, but it may have only been a few minutes. His ability to keep track of time didn’t seem to be working, anymore. But Gawain was finally pulled out of his grieving by the faint feeling of claws against his pant leg. He knew it well - his iguana, Griflet, had always patted at him like that when he’d wanted to be picked up.

“…..” The ghost looked up, and stared in confused awe at the translucent orange shape sitting on the floor in front of him. It looked like an iguana…though, it only had two front legs. The rest of its body was long and snake-like; it faded off into a wisp of orange smoke, almost, after about two and a half feet.

The little spirit pawed at his leg again, and Gawain reflexively reached out to pick them up. They wiggled up into the crook of his arm in a very familiar way, and the ghost heart his glass heart creaking again.

“…Griffy?” He whispered softly. The spirit of his old pet iguana made an equally soft trilling sound, and closed its little yellow eyes, quite content with their new perch. Gawain gently rubbed his knuckles across the yellow heart pattern on the spirit’s underbelly, and a small, weak smile crossed his lips.

He’d lost most of his family…but at least, he could have this little piece of it back.


End file.
